Speak No Evil
by LeaderOfTheRevolution
Summary: Side story to Love Me or Hate Me and sequel. Adeline Maisy is mute, an orphan...oh, and let's not forget: a witch! Life at Hogwarts isn't easy, especially when Slytherin hotshot Blaise Zabini is on her case. And what are her ties to Hufflepuff? BlaisexOC
1. Are You Magic?

A/N: this is a spinoff using The Four concept from my story I Love You, Now What? the sequel to Love Me Or Hate Me.

* * *

Sitting in an orphanage, Adeline Maisy stared desolately out of the small paned window. Snow fell gently outside, brushing lightly against the glass and falling like a blanket on London. She lifted her arm and placed it on the small sill, feeling the goosebumps rise on her skin at the coolness of the glass. She exhaled slowly, deliberately, and the glass fogged a small bit. She watched as it faded and smiled to herself. Inhale, exhale. Again, that small portion blurred. Inhale, exhale. And, as she watched in wonder, the entire window fogged until it was nearly opaque. Her inner smile emerged, victorious.

"Addy?" came a questioning voice from behind her.

Adeline whipped around, her wild red hair flying around her head in a fiery halo, her expression filled with fear. The window cleared almost instantly.

The young girl, clutching a teddy bear close, looked at the window in confusion, and then back at Adeline. "Story time?"

Adeline's features smoothed out, and her smile returned, softer. She nodded. The young girl exploded into a grin. Her two front teeth were missing, giving her the look of a cute young jack o' lantern.

"Mr. Snuggles, too?" the girl asked, a hopeful expression.

Again, Adeline nodded.

"Yay!" The little girl danced around Adeline in a joyous circle, reaching out and clasping her hand. Adeline let the girl lead her around the room, skipping. She grabbed the small notebook from her bed as she was pulled past, and the little girl towed her excitedly out of the room.

"Can you draw a new story this time, Addy?" The girl, only about six or seven, though they didn't know her real birthday, beamed. "I like watching you draw. Can you add words this time? Tessa is teaching me to read!"

Adeline pursed her lips, and the small girl caught it. She pouted. "Sister Lisa doesn't have to know."

And again, Adeline smiled and gave an acquiescing nod. The little girl squealed. She pulled Adeline quickly into a room, slightly bigger than the other, and closed the door. Adeline sat on the bed and the little girl hopped up next to her, settling in with her bear on her lap. Adeline opened the notebook near the middle, to a blank page. She picked up the little pencil tied to the side and began to draw. The little girl peered into the book closely, eyes wide. Adeline paused and turned to show her. A woman, tall and beautiful; the rest of the page was blank. The little girl pouted again.

"I wish we had some colored pencils," she said sadly. "I want to know what she looked like in color." She glanced up. "Does she look like you, Addy?"

Adeline shook her head, tugging lightly on the little girl's brown pigtail. The girl gasped. "She looks like me?"

Nodding, Adeline again bent her head to the notebook. The woman was draped in a long gown of sorts, her arm outstretched. In her hand was a...stick?

The girl gasped again. "Is that a wand? Is she a witch? Is she _magic_?"

Adeline nodded brightly, holding up a finger to gesture 'Just wait'. Next, she wrote in elegant script at the top of the page, "There once was a beautiful woman named Susan."

The girl clapped her hands excitedly, eyes shining. "That's me! That's me!"

"Susan was magic," Adeline wrote next. "She could make anything happen."

Bouncing up and down on the small bed, the little girl, Susan, looked up at Adeline with innocent eyes and said, "Addy, is magic real?"

For a split second, Adeline's smile faltered. She flipped to the back of her notebook and hurriedly scrawled one word in large letters on the last page. She held it up in front of her face for Susan to see.

It read, "Yes."

"Are you magic, Addy?" Susan asked.

Again, Adeline paused. She thought of the window, the mysterious golden coin she had found in the alleyway on her last trip outside the orphanage, the mean boy at the market who had begun clucking like a chicken after calling her names, the boils on Sister Lisa's face after giving her a lashing for her drawings. She thought of these things, looked at Susan, and drew in tiny, neat letters, the word, "No."

Because despite these strange happenings, Adeline Maisy believed she was a normal orphan girl--what those in the magical world called Muggles. But Adeline knew nothing of the magical world. So she, naturally, was quite unaware of the fact that she, on the eve of her sixteenth birthday, was just being discovered by Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a budding--if late-blooming--witch.

* * *

"What can Dumbledore _possibly_ be thinking?" Snape snapped. "The girl is a mute! How is she to be expected to perform at the same level as other students if she is a mute!"

"I have to agree with Severus," said Slughorn worriedly. "How will it be possible for her to perform even the most basic spells with a wand? She'll have to master non-verbal spells immediately, and that is a difficult feat for even the seventh years here."

"Quit whining, Severus." McGonagall lifted her nose at the scowling man. "Dumbledore has faith in the girl's abilities. Are you doubting his judgement?"

"I'm doubting his sanity!" growled the professor.

"Perhaps you would like to say that to him directly," said McGonagall hotly. "We shall simply ask him when he comes back with the girl."

"Do we even know her name?" Slughorn looked nervous, no doubt at being left again out of the loop.

"Her name, Professor Slughorn, is Adeline Maisy."

* * *

"Come in," said Sister Lisa stiffly. She opened the door a crack wider, her tone betraying that she absolutely did _not _want this strange man to come in at all. Sister Lisa was a short, stout woman, but she held herself like a six foot man. Back straight and expression stony, she didn't seem like someone to be won over easily, if at all. Nevertheless, Albus Dumbledore smiled warmly.

"Thank you," he said graciously, dipping his head slightly.

She harrumphed, lifting herself even higher on her short legs. "I understand you're here to see Adeline Maisy."

"Yes, I am." Again, he smiled. His charm was wasted, given her glare, but he plowed on politely. "I do hope I'm not intruding."

"Of course not." And again, her tone betrayed otherwise. "Are you family?"

"Ah, no. I'm here to take her to my school." His eyes twinkled mysteriously behind his half-moon glasses.

Sister Lisa raised her eyebrows. "School? I'm sorry, sir, but I believe you are mistaken. Adeline is not educated--"

"And that, madam, would be the point of sending her to school." His smile widened.

She spluttered, shocked at being interrupted, and said, "I must protest, sir. You must have the wrong girl."

"No, no. Miss Maisy is indeed the right girl. She has special talents that my school needs." He laced his fingers together in front of him and added, "Shall you show me her room?"

"I never," murmured Sister Lisa, but walked quickly down the hall anyway, shuffling her feet and feeling an odd sense of confusion.

She stopped at the third door on the right and stood like a board. "This is her room, sir."

"Thank you, Sister. It will only be a minute." He gave her a reassuring smile, to which she looked alarmed, and opened the door. "Adeline Maisy?"

The girl who looked up was nothing like he had been expecting. Her face was smudged with dirt, her red hair a bright distraction from the drabness of the rest of the room. Under the dirt, he could see skin paler than porcelain. Her eyes, blue as the ocean, peered suspiciously at him from beneath long lashes. She would be very pretty once she was cleaned and her hair brushed.

"Goodness, child," he said, walking to where she sat on her bed and kneeling before her. "When was the last time you had a bath?"

She didn't answer him, simply staring with a mixture of suspicion and open curiosity. Then, suddenly, her hand shot out and closed around a little navy blue book. She opened it, picked up the tiny pencil, and scribbled something on the paper. He blinked at her. _What in Merlin's name? _Finished, she shoved the book at him with an urgent expression. He adjusted his glasses and looked up at her. She shook her head and pointed back at the open book. Dumbledore looked at the book she held, and the words she had written.

"Two weeks ago," it said.

He looked back up at her face with a look of concern. She cocked her head questioningly. _So it's true._ "My dear, can't you talk?"

She shook her head, and he was hit immediately with a burst of protective instinct. She pulled the book back down to her lap, hurriedly writing more.

"Who are you?" he read aloud. "Miss Maisy--"

He was interrupted as the book was, once again, shoved into his face. "Addy."

"Addy, then." He smiled. "I am Professor Albus Dumbledore. I am here to take you to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for some long-overdue education."

"Hogwarts?" the book read next. She was clutching it so tightly her knuckles turned white.

"It is my school. I am Headmaster. You see, Addy, you are a witch."

* * *

A/N: alright. is this any good? i need feedback pretty please.


	2. First Meeting

A/N: this took a while. i apologize to the people reading this, and i thank you.

* * *

Adeline blinked down at the piece of paper in her hands, her mouth opening and closing not unlike a fish out of water. She stood, unaided, in the center of the hustle and bustle of Diagon Alley. She looked up from a list as a snobbish-looking witch bumped her shoulder. The witch shot Adeline a dirty look and promptly walked off. Adeline's face, riddled with confusion, wilted further.

_I don't belong here,_ was the most prominent thought in her mind.

And indeed, that was written on the faces of everyone who turned her way. It was quite clear to them all: she didn't belong there. She looked down at the list, frowning at the words, _Wand at Ollivander's._

She glanced up at the signs on the buildings around her. Where the devil was 'Ollivander's'? Another person collided with her shoulder, and she winced. The person, a boy about her own age, whipped around. His face was scrunched up in a fierce expression, his platinum blonde hair slicked back from his face. There were two people with him, a taller boy with dark skin and piercing eyes, and a sneering, pug-faced girl.

"Why don't you watch where you're going?" he snapped.

Adeline looked around, helpless.

"Oi, I'm _speaking _to you, wretch!" The boy advanced a step.

"No need to resort to name calling," said the more exotic-looking boy calmly, looking Adeline up and down. "Perhaps she's just deaf."

The blonde one looked at him in disbelief. "Are you really _defending _her, Zabini?"

"Maybe he just wants to shag her," the girl said snidely.

He, Zabini, ignored the girl completely. "No, Malfoy, I'm not _defending _her," he mocked. "I'm stating a possibility."

He looked at Adeline, his eyes trailing up and down her body. Dumbledore, that strange man, had given her new clothes. _New _clothes. She had relished in the feel and cleanliness of them. There was a pair of jeans, free of patches or tears. The shirt was robin's egg blue, and the jacket was, frankly, _warm_. Adeline fidgeted under the other teen's gaze. Did the clothes look bad?

"Go on," he said. She blinked, and he repeated, "Go on. Get going."

She nodded and turned, intending to follow his instructions, but abruptly stopped. She reached into her pocket, pulling out a piece of paper, words already written on it. She faced the group, unfolded the paper, and held it in front of her. It read, Can you help me?

The blonde boy, Malfoy, suddenly began guffawing. "She's mute! Blimey, Zabini, _that's _what's wrong with her! The bloody girl's a bloody mute!"

Snidely, the girl said, "She expects us to help her? Why would we help the likes of her?"

Zabini only lifted his chin. "Help with what?"

Whilst the girl stared disbelievingly at him, Malfoy continued his laughter. "Oh go _on_, Zabini. This is precious."

Adeline merely shifted her standing position slightly. Upon realizing that Zabini had asked her a question, she whipped out her pencil and hastily scribbled something on the back.

It now said, Supplies for Hogwarts?

Zabini lifted a delicate brow. "Don't worry about Hogwarts. You'll be there less than a week before they throw you out. A mute can't be a witch. You'd be better off crawling back into what ever gutter they found you in."

Adeline took a step back, reeling as though she'd been slapped by his sudden change. When she didn't move any more than that, he calmly pulled something from his coat, holding it steadily in his hand. It looked like a long pointed stick, but with a place to grip. A wand? Was this a wand?

"Get going," he said to her for the second time, "or I shall not hesitate to hex you."

Adeline took another step back, and then turned and ran. Zabini watched her go, lowering his wand. The girl beside him huffed, flipping back her short dark hair.

"You had me worried for a moment, Zabini," she said haughtily. Stomping off, she steadfastly refused to look over her shoulder, assuming, naturally, that her two male companions would follow. "Come on, Draky-poo!"

Beside him, Malfoy shuddered. "I hate it when she calls me that blasted name."

Zabini was still watching, waiting for the last glimpse of bright red hair to vanish in the crowd. When it finally had, he nodded once in finality.

"A shame," he murmured. "Her voice would probably have been pretty."

"What was that?" asked Malfoy, beginning to walk away. He stopped, looking at his friend with a raised eyebrow and a skeptic expression. "You're not talking about that mute, are you? I'll bet all the Galleons in Gringotts we never have to look at her filth again."

"No," said Zabini, turning to the blonde. "I wasn't talking about the mute."

And that was the last that Blaise Zabini said of the matter.

* * *

Adeline continued to run until she had found a corner near an empty store, a sign in the window saying 'Out of Business'. There she stopped, both to catch her breath and to make sure the strange group was not following her. Satisfied that they were not, she relaxed a little. Such strange people. She shivered, drawing her coat closer to her and wishing with all her might she was back at the orphanage with Susan. She looked once more at the list, at the handwritten words instructing her to be at King's Cross Station, platform nine and three-quarters on September 1st, then put it back into her pocket with a forlorn expression. She was lost, no one was helping her, she could not speak...What was she doing here? Feeling invisible and alone, she slid down the wall, rested her head on her knees, and silently cried.

"Oh, God," said a voice above her. "I knew I should have intervened. That rich arrogant daddy's boy probably said something horrible to her."

A warm hand patted her shoulder comfortingly as she heard someone kneel next to her.

"There, there. I'm sure the bastard was mean, but he's not worth your tears, honestly."

Adeline looked up, her eyes stinging. A girl with long, golden blonde hair and bright forest-colored eyes smiled at her, her expression soft.

"Here, stand up," the girl said, tugging gently on Adeline's arm. "Diagon Alley isn't the cleanest place to sit and have a cry. I'm Emma, by the way. Emma Knight."

Adeline mouthed her name, and Emma smacked herself in the forehead with her free hand.

"Right, I heard them say you can't talk. We've got to get you a wand."

Adeline's face lit up, and she scrambled to pull the list from her pocket. Emma looked it over for a moment, then smiled again.

"I assume you need some help with this," she said. Adeline nodded hastily. "Alright. I'll help."

Excitement flowed through her, and Adeline hugged this stranger tightly, mouthing 'Thank you' over and over, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. Finally!

* * *

"I sympathize with you, you know," said Emma slowly, as they walked through the alley, on their way to Ollivander's wand shop. "I'm usually very quiet." Emma paused. "My mother died when I was a baby, so I never knew her. My father got taken away just before I started school. I've been invisible, so I know what you're feeling. The general population and I don't really get along, so I don't talk all that much."

Adeline giggled. Emma flashed her a smile and added, "But I guess you don't have a choice in that matter, huh? Were you ever able to talk?"

Nodding, Adeline tapped her temple with one finger and shrugged.

"You can't remember? That...sucks." Emma chuckled. "That blonde boy who you bumped into? That's Draco Malfoy. His friend was Blaise Zabini, and that annoying girl stalking them both is Pansy Parkinson. What'd they say to you?"

Adeline stopped, pulling Emma away from the stream of traffic, and pulled out her notebook, holding up a finger in a signal to wait. She wrote for a bit, while Emma watched patiently, and then held up the book for the other girl to read. Emma's eyes scanned it quickly.

"...called you a mute..." Emma muttered. "...gutter..." Her face clouded over. "That impudent blonde jerk, how low could he get--"

Adeline shook her head furiously, her hair whipping around her pale face, and she added a line to the paper. Blaise. Emma raised both of her eyebrows in surprise.

"Blaise said that to you?" Adeline nodded again. "Well, I wouldn't doubt it, he's just as immature as Malfoy..." Emma stopped, glancing up at the sign above the store. "Here, Ollivander's."

Adeline let out a sigh of relief.

"I'll wait out here," said Emma with a smile. "You have money, don't you?"

Alarm showed on Adeline's face. Money? Money? No one had given her any money! She searched her pockets, finding a bag of clinking coins in her coat pocket. Upon opening the bag, however, it didn't look like any kind of money she'd ever seen. She looked back at Emma.

"That's wizard money," she said. "The bronze ones are Knuts, the silver are Sickles, the gold are Galleons." Emma peeked into the bag. "My, you have a lot of Galleons in here. Who gave this to you?"

Dumbledore, wrote Adeline in her notebook. Emma nodded once, then waved her hand, ushering the other girl into the wand shop. "I'll be right here," she called, and then the door closed behind Adeline Maisy.

* * *

Adeline looked around the shop. Papers lay everywhere, and stacks of little rectangular boxes. There was a counter near the front, with a large book open atop it, and a little bell. Adeline approached the counter cautiously, and reached out with one finger to touch the little bell. Immediately, a loud beautiful chime sounded through the store, and Adeline leaped back, glancing around.

"No need to look so guilty, my dear," said a gruff male voice. An aging man appeared from in between two tall shelves of boxes, smiling grimly. His face was ashen, as if he hadn't gotten much sleep recently. "It's quite alright that you rang that bell."

She opened her mouth, closed it, and then wrote on a piece of paper, I need a wand...Please. Ollivander, for she assumed that's who this man was, peered at her very closely.

"I see," he said. "You must be the girl Dumbledore was telling me of, Miss Maisy. A very interesting task, to make a mute into a witch. And at such a late stage, too. Why, you ought to be graduating in two years. Although I do recall him saying something about private lessons...I suppose you'll have to work twice as hard as any normal witch or wizard..." He trailed off, wandering away to the back of the shop.

Adeline watched him. _Should I follow him or stay here? _She debated for a while, finally deciding that remaining here was her safest bet. And indeed, he emerged from the back a few minutes later, bearing a short box with a green lid and black bottom. He pried the dusty lid off and set it aside, tilting the box so she could see inside. The wand was, as the box had betrayed, short, only about eight inches long at maximum, made out of a reddish brown wood.

"Seven and a half inch cherry," spoke Ollivander, "with leprechaun hair core."

Adeline stared at it. _Leprechaun hair?_

"Well? Take it."

She looked up at him in surprise, and then closed her right hand around the wand, lifting it out of the box. It felt strange in her hands.

"Give it a wave, girl, give it a wave." Ollivander sounded impatient.

She turned slightly, took a deep breath, and waved the wand. A stack of papers in the corner burst into flames. Ollivander put them out with no problems, eying her.

"Curious," he said. "Not Irish, then, I see."

Anxious to be rid of the dangerous wand, Adeline practically flung it into its box.

"Hmm..." The man tapped his chin. "Wait here."

This time he brought back a brown box, lifting the lid and revealing a much longer wand, completely black with a small white handle, which he gingerly offered to her.

"Ten inch black-wood with demiguise hair."

Adeline cautiously took hold of this wand, and almost immediately here was an explosion of sparks, and drawers opened, boxes flew and papers fluttered. Adeline, a fearful expression on her face, hurriedly dropped the wand.

"No, no, apparently wrong," murmured the wand-maker. "We shall have to try something unorthodox with you, dear. I wonder..."

He set the black-wood wand aside, leaned over the counter earnestly and said, "My dear, why don't you go look for a wand? Just peruse through the shelves and pull out the box that calls to you."

For a moment, Adeline merely stared at him as if he were crazy. He gestured for her to go on. Carefully, she stepped into one row of shelves, letting her fingers drag lightly across the boxes. Ollivander leaned against the counter and watched her go past the willow wands, pause near the unicorn hair cores, then continue on. She knew nothing of the wands in the boxes, nor did she know of his organization methods. It was very unorthodox, but then again, what was status quo about a witch who couldn't speak?

Suddenly, one of the boxes from a higher shelf moved forward, as if on its own, and came crashing down on the girl's head. Adeline jumped, rubbing the top of her head where the box had struck, and then looked down at it. The box appeared to be vibrating. Curious, she picked it up, dust coating her fingers as she pulled off the lid. The wand inside levitated up an inch or so from the inside of the box, and when she opened her hand, it zoomed right in. A bright light glowed from the tip of the wand, and immediately she was engulfed in wamrth, and she could vaguely hear someone female laughing. Adeline exhaled slowly. Ollivander approached her, smiling.

"Eight and three-quarter inch alder, with an ashwinder ash core. Looks like you're going to be a great protector, my dear."

* * *

Emma squealed, clapping her hands excitedly. "That's so awesome, Addy!"

Adeline froze at the nickname, the color draining slightly from her face. Emma stopped.

"Oh, I'm sorry, do you not want me to call you that?"

Hesitating a moment, Adeline shook her head, meaning 'No, it's fine'.

"Okay, good," said Emma, linking arms with her. "You're basically my only friend, I didn't want to offend you. Let's get the rest of your list taken care of. I can't wait until school starts."

_Yeah_, thought Adeline. _Me too._

_

* * *

_A/N: review please.

the next chapter is about the train ride and the sorting ceremony!


	3. Shadows

A/N: here it is. chapter three.

* * *

September 1st rolled around very quickly after that, and the time soon came when Adeline Maisy stood in King's Cross Station on platform 9 and three-quarters. She had received another letter from Dumbledore just the day before, explaining how exactly she was to get to her platform, along with the basic rules of what he called the Ministry of Magic. She gently put a hand against her stomach; the nausea of this situation had only gotten worse when she'd somehow walked through that brick column onto this platform.

She watched the people walk around her with purpose, boarding the train called the Hogwarts Express, saying goodbye to their families. Briefly, her heart ached, but she shook it off, glancing around for the familiar face of her one friend in this topsy-turvy world. A red-headed group of people came onto the platform, along with a glasses-donning boy and smiling bushy-haired girl. Unable to find any sign of Emma, Adeline thought about heading near them. They looked like a nice group. Then she shook her head. Emma was probably just on the train already. Yeah, that was it. She clambered onto the train with her two small bags, going down the aisle slowly, taking care to look carefully so as not to miss her. By the time she had reached the very last compartment in the very back of the train, she had not found Emma. Feeling rejected and forgotten, she closed the door in that very last compartment and sank down horizontally into the seat. Maybe it was better to be invisible. _Invisible must be better than feeling like this, right? ...Right?_

_

* * *

_Adeline would have slept through the entire train ride had her stomach not growled loudly approximately halfway through. She sat up as her stomach gurgled angrily again, and she dimly recalled hearing a woman calling just a little bit ago about a candy cart. Cautiously, she opened her compartment door, stepping out. Just a few compartments ahead was the cart, but there were two large boys by it, along with the dark-haired boy she'd seen on the platform, and Malfoy from Diagon Alley, and that blonde girl was--

_Emma? _Adeline took a step forward to get her attention, but Emma rushed past her with her head down. Adeline reached out to her, mouth open to call for her, but of course no sound came. _Oh..._ Adeline's face fell, and she bit her lip to fight the tears. Malfoy turned, sneering, and when his eyes fell upon her, his sneer widened gleefully.

"I remember you," he said. "You're that mute who ran into me in Diagon Alley."

Her eyes widened fractionally and she took a fearful step back. The dark-haired boy stepped forward.

"Now hold on, Malfoy, you already made that other girl run off. Leave this one alone."

"Well, aren't you feeling heroic, Potter?" Malfoy crossed his arms over his chest. "Two attempted rescues in one day."

He gestured at the two tall, beefy teens, and they advanced on her. Out of pure gut instinct, Adeline's hand shot into the pocket of her jeans, grasping tightly onto her wand.

"Malfoy, don't," said the other boy dangerously. He leveled his own wand at the blonde. "If Crabbe and Goyle even breathe on her, so help me--"

The one who was slightly bigger than the other had, by that point however, grabbed hold of Adeline's left arm. She thrashed in an attempt to free herself, and the boy called Potter lifted his wand straighter.

"_Stu_--"

A bright yellow flash suddenly exploded from Adeline, and the meaty boy reeled back, clawing at his face and eyes with both hands. Adeline once again stepped back, as the males stared at her. _I can't go back to my compartment, I'll be trapped like a mouse. _She nearly dropped her wand in her haste, ducking past the taller ones and bursting into a run past Malfoy, tears in her eyes. She kept running until she reached an entirely new car of the train, and then she threw open the first compartment she found and leaped in, shutting it quickly behind her.

"Do you mind?"

She spun around, mouth open in a silent scream of surprise, and indeed she recognized the owner of that smooth voice. She put her hands to her mouth, biting down. Tears coursed freely down her cheeks despite her attempts to stem them and she turned away from him in shame and fear. Everything was wrong, her whole life uprooted in just a few days.

_I don't even know who I am anymore._

"You're not crying, are you?"

Adeline fumbled to open the door again. A hand from behind reached around her, preventing her exit.

"What's your name?" he asked, his voice so near to her ear that his breath brushed across the nape of her neck.

She turned, sniffing.

Blaise was frowning. "Oh, don't snivel." He wrinkled his nose. "Your name, girl, name?"

He kept his arm where it was resting on the door, trapping her. Though she stood at five feet seven inches, he towered above her, her head reaching just below his shoulder. She looked up at his face helplessly; her notebook was in her compartment.

He sighed, pulling his wand from his back pocket. Adeline whipped hers up, holding it haphazardly at an awkward angle, so that it could be pointed directly at his face, that caused her wrist to crack. He looked first at the wand, and then at her eyes.

"Your distrust is expected," he said slowly. "However, I'm not going to hex you. I was only going to get you parchment and a quill from my bag, but as I can't be sure that you won't just run away, I can't move from this spot."

Her wand hand trembling, Adeline lowered it slightly. The corner of his lip turned up, and he called importantly, "_Accio bag._"

The shoulder bag that was placed on the floor near the window zoomed into his hand, much to Adeline's obvious astonishment. She looked wildly around the room, eager to try it. Finally, her eyes spotted a square pillow on the seat. She pointed her wand at it, Blaise turning his head curiously to see what she was looking at, and mouthed the words, Accio pillow. For a moment nothing happened, and he turned his attention back to her.

Then, the pillow flew through the air towards what would have been her outstretched hand...had Blaise Zabini's head not been in the way. She covered her mouth to stop her giggle, as his bemused expression turned into one of agitation.

"Here." He thrust a thin piece of parchment and a long feather quill at her. "Your name."

She wrote carefully, fascinated how easily the quill glided on the paper, the ink shiny and smooth. Finally, Blaise tore the parchment from her hand impatiently.

"Adeline Maisy?" he read. His eyes narrowed. "Maisy? Could your parents be Tiberius and Lucia Maisy?"

She held out her hand expectantly and he grudgingly handed the parchment back. She went quicker this time, until the paper read, I don't know. They're dead.

The tears returned anew and she again began to cry.

"Stop it," said Blaise, but there was no real force behind it.

The door started to open and she stepped away, startled, backing into Blaise and stumbling. His hands firmly grasped her shoulders, steadying her. Draco Malfoy, his two goons, and Pansy Parkinson stepped into the compartment. Malfoy stopped dead when he saw the two already in it.

"Zabini," he said slowly, "what are you doing with the mute?"

Adeline's breath hitched, and she hid behind Blaise, clutching onto folds of his shirt. He shrugged his shoulders harshly, and, stung, Adeline dropped her hands. She backed up as Malfoy and Pansy stepped in further. Malfoy's two companions remained outside, seeing as there was not nearly enough room for them all. Adeline's back hit the window of the compartment.

"Not very brave, are you?" snapped Malfoy, looking past Blaise to glare at her.

"How can you possibly expect her to defend herself when she can't speak?" said Blaise, standing still as a statue. "Then again, I suppose you're not used to thinking rationally..."

Malfoy snarled, advancing another step. Trembling slightly, Adeline pulled her wand.

"What do you expect to do with that?" Blaise said, looking calmly over his shoulder.

A shadow suddenly passed over her face, and a strange black mist pooled at her feet. He turned, frowning, to fully face her. The window behind her suddenly exploded inward, glass flying everywhere, and the wind and rain from outside burst in. Pansy screamed, shielding her eyes from the glass and wind, and Malfoy threw up his arms protectively. Blaise, however, was staring at Adeline. The wind whipped her fiery hair, the rain soaked her clothes. The train was, obviously, moving, which could only mean the rain was hitting her at painful speeds since she was so close, yet she didn't flinch or shy away. What was wrong with her?

"_Reparo!_" he shouted, the glass that now lay on the floor of the compartment levitating to the window frame, fixing itself. Once the last piece had been put in place, he shouted at Adeline, "Are you insa--"

The window abruptly blacked out completely, the entire compartment filling with the black mist that spilled out into the aisle. Shrouded in darkness, the Slytherin teens stumbled around the compartment.

"Where is she?"

"How did she do that? Stark raving _mad_, that girl--"

"Bloody good trick, Maisy..._Lumos Maxima!_"

As light swelled in the compartment, Blaise turned just in time to catch a glimpse of red hair passing around the corner as Crabbe and Goyle lay moaning in pain on the floor.

* * *

Adeline woke up ten minutes later, soaking wet, freezing, and feeling bruised, on the seat in her compartment.

* * *

_The darkness came again. I was going to defend myself on my own, without its help, but the shadows came anyway without my calling. I don't know how to stop them. I've never let them hurt anyone, but I can't remember anything in that compartment with Malfoy and Blaise. What did I do, I wonder._

_I dreamt about the ocean again as well. My parents...I think they were my parents...were calling out to me. I could see them far off in the distance, little dots bobbing just above the waves. I tried to swim to them. Then I went under, into the dark water, and it pulled at me. It pulled down, but I struggled. I tried. When I surfaced again, my parents' cries were drowned out by the sounds of the storm. I tried to breathe but the water rushed into my lungs and I sank. I woke up shaking and crying._

_Malfoy was right when he said I'm not very brave. I'm a coward._

Adeline looked up from her diary was the train began to slow. She stood up hesitantly, feeling strange in her robes. Pausing, she took a moment to wonder what was going to be thrown at her next. Then she picked up her bags and joined the rest of the students exiting the train.

* * *

A/N: i know i said this chapter would be the sorting ceremony, but i haven't quite finished that yet. sorry, next chapter i promise.


	4. Too Late

A/N: the sorting ceremony! i know what you're all thinking: _finally_. well just so you know, i wrote this in between studying for math and history midterms, so it might not be as well-written as you may have come to expect. read on, my friends.

* * *

As it turned out, Adeline ended up in the same as the red-headed boy and bushy-haired girl she'd seen at the station. The dark-haired one was, strangely, not with them. Adeline smiled at the girl, who smiled back and looked away as if something was bothering her. A winged, skeletal-looking horse was pulling the carriage, Adeline saw, and she was close enough that she could reach out and gently pet its side.

"You can see it?"

Adeline looked sharply at the girl. She was watching Adeline's hand in disbelief. Adeline nodded.

"Who died?" the girl asked softly.

Adeline stiffened. _What is she talking about?_

The girl noticed her tense and looked down sheepishly. "I didn't mean to pry, but the thestrals can only be seen by someone who has witnessed death."

Adeline glanced back at the leathery creature, pulling her hand away.

"I'm Hermoine," the girl said.

Adeline, she mouthed back.

Hermoine frowned. "Can't you talk?"

Adeline, used to hearing that same question so many times, only shook her head. Hermoine opened and closed her mouth for a few seconds, unsure of what to say or how to respond, and then suddenly leaned forward excitedly.

"There's a spell," she said. "I know a spell that could have you talking again in no time--"

"Lay off the girl, Hermoine," said the boy beside her. "You sound like a rutting salesperson."

Crossing her arms indignantly, she countered, "I'm not trying to sell it to her, Ron--"

"Don't get all snippy, you're just stressed because you think Harry's up and disappeared," said Ron calmly, relaxing back with his hands behind his head. "He'll turn up, like always."

Hermoine faced away from him and didn't speak for the remainder of the ride. Adeline watched the scenery around them and when Hogwarts castle came into view, her breath left her in a whoosh. Had she a voice, Ron and Hermoine would have heard only one word escape her lips: Wow.

* * *

Standing in the Great Hall, a magnificent night sky somehow visible on the ceiling above them, Adeline fidgeted uncomfortably. She was surrounded on all sides by much shorter, younger students, whom the tall woman--who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall--had called first years.

"Just follow them," she had told Adeline outside the doors. "Everything will be just fine."

So here she stood, watching a talking hat sing a song about "houses", and wondering which she'd be put in and how on Earth she'd gotten here in the first place. A horrible thought occurred to her. What if it didn't put her in a house at all? What if it announced, to the entire room, that she was indeed not magic and had no business being there at all?

Then McGonagall took the students' attention and began to call out names. As she was towering over the other students, Adeline could feel eyes on her, and she lowered her head slightly to allow her hair to fall over her face.

"Maisy, Adeline."

All too soon her name was called. The professor was smiling, but, at one table in particular, whispers were erupting. It appeared as though Blaise Zabini was not the only one to recognize her last name. What did they know about her family that she didn't? She stepped up to the little chair was McGonagall held the strange hat aloft. Then the hat descended upon her head and all she saw was the black inside.

"You're an interesting one," said a voice by her ear. She jumped, startled. "They haven't brought me one with options like you since Harry Potter."

_Who's Harry Potter? _She dimly recognized the name. _That boy on the train. Malfoy had called him Potter. And the redheaded boy, Ron, said something about a Harry. Is that him?_

"One one hand," the hat mused, "I see you are not courageous, and yet you yearn for strength and the warmth of friendship, which places you within range of Gryffindor for the brave. You are naive in your world view, yet crave wisdom, which puts you near Ravenclaw for the wise. Something deep within you calls out to Hufflepuff, and indeed your capacity to love and to care seems to possess no limit. It appears I have no choice but to put you in..."

Adeline closed her eyes tightly, her hands clenching into fists on her lap.

"SYLTHERIN!!!"

The last word was shouted to all the Great Hall, and the dreadful silence that followed was deafening. McGonagall lifted the hat from her head and she stepped down. The Slytherin table was a mass of murmurs. Face burning hotly with embarrassment and her fragile composure threatening to betray her, she walked to the table as if marching solemnly to her grave. At the Ravenclaw table, Emma's frazzled mind suddenly clicked, and she remembered what she had forgotten at King's Cross Station. Adeline. She had forgotten Adeline. Lowering her eyes shamefully, she twisted the napkin in her lap. Seated amongst the Gryffindors, Hermoine jabbed Ron with her elbow and hissed, "That's the nice girl we met in the carriage."

"The one who can't talk?" he whispered quite loudly back. "How the bloody hell did she end up in Slytherin? They'll eat her alive."

After what seemed like an eternity, Adeline reached the table. She stood there awkwardly, looking up and down it for an empty seat. There were small gaps here and there, but not nearly enough room for a sixteen-year-old girl, even as skinny as she was. Professor McGonagall had continued the sorting ceremony, but hardly anyone was paying attention to it. They waited, riveted, with baited breath to see how the sharks would react to the minnow.

_Stop trembling, Addy, you baby, _she scolded herself. _Don't let them see you scared._

Not far from her, Draco Malfoy was finding this whole situation increasingly funny.

"I haven't had a chance to laugh like this in _ages_," he gushed.

Stone-faced, Blaise placed his elbows on the table, interlocking his fingers in front of his mouth, and he leaned fractionally over the table at the other boy. "Didn't you hear her last name?"

"So, she's a Maisy," snapped Pansy, shifting farther from Blaise. "That doesn't mean she's related to _them_."

"How can she not be?" Blaise protested. "Is there another Maisy family besides them that I haven't heard about?"

On Blaise's other side, Daphne Greengrass yawned, lifted her chin, and said, "Tiberius and Lucia were two of the greatest purebloods of their generation, and Slytherin on top of that. I highly doubt that if they procreated the resulting child would be a mute."

"I know who they were, obviously," said Blaise impatiently. There was a strange edge to his voice. "When was the last time you saw or heard of a Maisy?"

"Ten years, give or take," Daphne replied. "What's that got to do with--"

"They had a daughter," Blaise pressed. "Don't you remember? A daughter, _our age_, she'd been sixteen now--"

"I remember hearing about that, too, when I was very young," Draco interrupted, sneering. "My father spoke of her. But that girl could talk, Zabini."

"Maybe there was an accident, a _reason _why the Maisys are gone. You've seen the wandless magic that girl is capable of, Draco. That much natural power...She must be their daughter, don't you see?"

Draco snorted, and Blaise huffed, adding, "What happens if she is, then?"

There was silence among their group as Adeline shifted from foot to foot not far away, feeling as small and insignificant as a piece of lint.

"We ought to ask her to sit down, then," said Daphne finally.

Blaise nodded his agreement and suddenly Draco leaned towards him intently.

"One more question, Zabini," he said. "Why is it that she's just being discovered now, hm? If she's so powerful?"

"Simple," said Pansy, sulking. "It's all a magnificent bungle."

"That's enough, Pansy," spoke Blaise softly, his gaze finding that girl's impossibly blue eyes. "Now shut up and move over."

* * *

Of their own accord, Adeline's eyes widened. Indeed, all of the student body seemed to share her surprise. Blaise Zabini, who she had already pegged as a prideful arrogant boy, and Pansy Parkinson, that petty snob, were shifting down the bench, moving to make room for her--though Pansy seemed utterly disgusted to do it. Blaise's dark eyes latched onto hers, and he gestured, unsmiling, to the open space just created beside him, which she hurried towards.

Thank you, she wrote quickly in her notebook. He glanced at it once and turned away from her. Her hands dropped into her lap and she stared at him, put off.

"My name is Daphne Greengrass," said the girl on her other side. "You're better off ignoring Blaise. I can't understand his attitude towards you at all."

Blaise tilted his head slightly in their direction at the mention of his name, and Adeline stuck out her tongue childishly. Smirking, Blaise returned to his conversation with Malfoy.

"I heard about your condition," Daphne continued, unaffected. "I hope you don't mind my offering, but if you require a guide around Hogwarts I'm sure I can assist you."

Pleasantly surprised, Adeline nodded.

"Oh, don't bother, Daphne," said Draco impetuously. "She's in no need of your services. I'll be she can do bloody well on her own." He laughed.

"Her whole existence is a joke to you, isn't it?" Blaise muttered.

"Basically." Malfoy flashed his friend a grin.

Rolling her eyes, Daphne replied, "Sod off, Malfoy. She just got here, don't make an ass of yourself already."

"Too late," said Blaise, chuckling slightly. "You missed him on the train."

"What did you do on the train?" Daphne narrowed her gaze.

The two boys looked at each other and began laughing.

"Malfoy..." Daphne growled.

In small letters, Adeline printed, I don't like him. She showed it to Daphne.

"Not many do," the other girl said seriously. Frowning, she added, "We really must come up with a faster way of communication, Adeline, or else conversations are going to be just awful."

"Too late," said Pansy, repeating Blaise's earlier line.

Copying Adeline, Daphne stuck out her tongue.

* * *

A/N: sooo. anyone see the Slytherin thing coming? :)


	5. Can't or Won't

A/N: chapter fiiive. please let me know there are people out there actually reading this?

* * *

"We've got another problem," Daphne announced an hour later, depositing herself horizontally on the couch in the common room. Adeline looked a bit lost for a moment before sitting delicately on the edge by Daphne's head.

"Another problem?" said Pansy snobbishly from the floor, glancing up from her new issues of Witch Weekly to glare at Adeline. "Terrific. The list is getting very long very quickly. New problems just keep popping up with you, don't they?"

Daphne gave a sneaking look towards Blaise who sat in a chair, quietly reading. In the other armchair was Draco, his body draped lengthwise across it lazily. He looked unbelievably bored.

"I know something else that pops up around Adeline." Daphne winked.

Adeline's face went red as she looked between Daphne and Blaise, her eyes slowly getting bigger as the realization hit of what the other girl meant. Blaise glanced up once, noticed Adeline's growing blush, and went back to his reading.

"What's the new problem, Greengrass?" asked Malfoy, blowing a piece of hair away from his eyes.

"How is Addy going to get into the common room without one of us if she can't say the password?"

"Addy?" Pansy repeated in disdain, lifting herself onto her elbows. "Don't give her a nickname, then we'll have to keep her."

"She's not a stray dog, Parkinson." Blaise turned a page in his book. "She's a pureblood Slytherin. She's one of us."

From the couch, Adeline beamed. Blaise saw her smile and watched her unblinkingly; it was the first time he'd seen her genuinely happy, and she seemed to glow, her eyes alight.

"Someone's just going to have to be with her all the time, then," he said, tearing his eyes away from her face.

"Perfect!" Daphne clapped her hands together. "Now, who has what on their schedule?"

"My schedule is of no concern to you," Draco snapped.

"Don't mind him," Blaise murmured to no one in particular. "He's got a girl on the brain."

"I'm with Drakey," said Pansy. Draco cringed at the name. "Besides, I wouldn't help her even if I had every class with her."

Daphne rolled her eyes. Adeline handed her the piece of paper on which was her schedule.

"Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts," Daphne began, scanning the page, "Arithmancy, History of Magic, Ancient Runes..." Daphne's face fell. "I don't have anything with you!"

"Oh, the horror," murmured Pansy.

"Blaise," said Daphne with a strange, mischievous smile. "What classes do you have?"

"Arithmancy, Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration..." He trailed off for a moment, seeing a pattern. "...Ancient Runes...and History of...Magic..."

"How convenient!" Daphne exclaimed, clapping. "You seem to have every class with Adeline."

His head snapped up from his book, tone sharpening as he said, "If you think I'm going to follow her around like a lost puppy--"

"Blaise," she interrupted sweetly, "can I talk to you in private for a moment?"

Scowling, Blaise allowed her to pull him out of his chair and through an archway into a smaller room, the stone walls glistening greenly from the lake above them. She pulled at the separating curtain, then whirled on him.

"What's going on with you?" she hissed.

"Me?" demanded Blaise, leaning close. "What about you? Don't think I don't know your game. You're only kind to Maisy because of her family. She's completely ignorant of this world and you're taking advantage of that."

Daphne snorted, rolling her eyes. "Hypocrite. You can't act so high and mighty. I'm only doing what you're doing with Draco."

"Excuse me?" Blaise's eyes narrowed.

"Oh," she blinked innocently, "so you're best friends with Draco because of his personality and not his last name?"

Blaise stiffened. "Draco's spoiled, but he's headstrong, quick-tempered, sheltered. He needs me around."

"And Adeline is kind, soft, naive, and mute," said Daphne, crossing her arms over her chest, "and she needs me around. So perhaps my intentions behind my friendliness are a little askew. This isn't Gryffindor or Hufflepuff, Zabini. At least I'm consistent in my attitude towards her. You go from being your normal, cynical self to defending her in front of Draco and Pansy or staring at her when you think no one's looking."

"What?" He looked caught off guard.

"You watched her in the Great Hall." She straightened, a confident, smug grin on her face. "You always watch her--"

"You can't possibly tell that, she's only been here for a few hours--"

"--as if she's the only one for miles around," Daphne finished.

For a moment, he seemed almost caught. Then he composed his face and said, "She's a pretty girl, Daphne. You know how I am with pretty girls."

Again, she snorted. "Yes, quite, I know how you are with pretty girls. You look at them once, decide they're not worth looking at in the light a second time, and resolve to shag them later if you get bored. You don't stare at them with bobble eyes."

"Bobble eyes?" he repeated. "I do _not_ have 'bobble eyes'--"

Suddenly, a hand stuck through the gap in the curtain, grasping it to pull it aside.

"Since you aren't attracted to her in the slightest," Daphne whispered quickly, "then you won't object to this."

She wrapped her arms around his neck just as Adeline pulled back the curtain. Her eyes widened until they nearly took over her face. Her mouth opened slightly, staring in shock. She faltered, her face going red, and she rushed away to the girl's dormitory. Draco looked up as she ran past, eye drawn to the rapid movement, and then he swiveled his head in Blaise's direction. He raised his eyebrows.

"So that's what you two do behind closed curtains." He chuckled.

"I'm only proving a point," said Daphne, stepping back from Blaise, who rubbed at his mouth with the back of his hand. "Did that bother you?" she asked him slyly.

"Why did Maisy run off like that?" His eyes were stuck on the doorway of the girl's dorm, ignoring Daphne completely.

Her smirk grew as she came up with a new plan. "News flash, Zabini," Daphne said, strutting into the dorm. "She's interested."

* * *

Adeline buried her head into the pillow, curling in on herself and breathing slowly through her mouth. The image of Daphne pressed against Blaise burned freshly in her mind.

_Why does that bother me?_

Someone sat on the edge of her bed, and Adeline turned her head away from the pillow to see who it was. "Something wrong, Addy?"

_Daphne. Why did you...?_

Adeline sat up quickly, her head spinning. She shook it furiously. _Nothing's wrong. That didn't bother me at all._

"Ugh." Daphne flopped down against the pillow. "Blaise just rejected me."

Blinking, the other Slytherin girl pulled her notebook from the bedside table. Really? she wrote. I'm sorry.

Daphne sighed and said, "Oh, don't worry about it. Plenty of guys out there. I guess I'm just not his type." She gave Adeline a sidelong glance. "Why don't you try it?"

Blushing, Adeline scribbled quickly, I don't think he'd be interested.

Daphne winked, easing her hands behind her head as she sat up against the headboard. "You might be surprised."

* * *

"Come in, my dear, come in," ushered Dumbledore with a smile.

Adeline took the seat by Dumbledore's desk and shyly smiled back.

"How has your day been?" He laced his fingers together.

Hectic, Adeline wrote in her book.

"I certainly hope you haven't found too many challenges because of your lack of speech. However, the Slytherin students seemed to have welcome you with open arms."

She hesitated, twisting the pencil in her hands. I think it's because of my family.

Dumbledore's eyebrows raised. "Your family? What ever would your family have to do with anything?"

They say my parents were named Tiberius and Lucia.

"Are they?"

I can't remember. Does that mean something? Adeline looked imploringly at the older man, as if he knew all the answers.

Dumbledore leaned forward slightly and said, "Tiberius and Lucia were quite famous in the wizarding world. They were both pureblood, which matters to some kinds of us, and both were in Slytherin. If they are indeed your parents, this would explain your House. Lucia was widely known around the world as a historian of the magical, and possessed an incredibly expansive memory. Tiberius was the heir of the Maisy fortune which, despite the Maisy name being overshadowed in politics by more prominent faces, was still substantial. He was very influential in both America and France as well as the United Kingdom, and his Charms abilities were unparalleled. He was to begin teaching here at Hogwarts alongside Professor Flitwick, actually, just before he and his family disappeared."

Adeline's fingers twitched. Family? she asked on paper.

"His wife and young daughter," Dumbledore clarified. He stood from the desk, walking around the office with his hands behind his back, a serious yet gentle expression in place. "Miss Maisy, I know about the accident.

Accident? Memories flashed in Adeline's head. The storm above her, the swell of ocean, that dark, dark, never-ending water--

"Yes. In time, I'm sure, you'll remember. Until then it is best not to rush it. It was quite traumatic..." He paused. "I know why it is your are mute, child. Normally I would not interfere with matters, however...you aren't. It's not that you can't speak; it's that you _won't_. Whether consciously or not, you don't allow yourself to talk. If you try, you will find it is possible."

Adeline stared, mouth agape, at the man with half-moon glasses. Her hands were still and she wrote nothing more.

"Well then, dear," he said, smiling. "Starting tomorrow, Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Snape will be giving you extra lessons outside of your normal classes in an attempt to catch you up to speed with the rest of your classmates. Professor Slughorn shall provide extra help during his Potions class, but is unavailable for private lessons. Nonetheless, I'm afraid you'll be terribly busy."

He looked at her apologetically as the knowledge sank in. The poor girl was absolutely floored. "Very good, then." He lifted a little glass bowl filled with what appeared to be small yellow marbles.

"Here," he said. "Have a lemondrop."

* * *

A/N: review pretty please.

i've only gotten like two per chapter. that's not cool.


	6. Classroom Segregation

A/N: here's their first day of classes :)

not too eventful, but some little subtle hints and foreshadowing...

* * *

_The next morning..._

Daphne read the paper, the whites of her eyes growing large. "He made your schedule this packed _and _added extra lessons?"

Adeline nodded weakly.

"Always knew the man was batty," murmured Blaise, leaning against the door frame. "I suppose I'll have to go with you to these lessons, too, hm?"

Her cheeks turning pink as she shook her head, Adeline scribbled, You don't have to.

He peered at her closely for a minute before saying, "Perhaps we can just meet in the library after your lessons? I could probably lend a hand with your homework. You're bound to get more than you can handle, with so many classes--"

"Are you actually offering to help her?" asked Daphne in disbelief. "Merlin, I never thought I'd see the day."

"Shut up," the boy mumbled.

"Oh, wait, my mistake. He hasn't changed at all." Daphne linked her arm through Adeline's. "Come on, Addy, let's go to breakfast."

* * *

As it turned out, Slytherins and Gryffindors had all their classes together. As Blaise and Adeline walked into Arithmancy, their first class of the day, Adeline spotted Hermoine sitting along near the front of the room. She headed towards the Gryffindor girl with a smile, but Blaise cut her off.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

She faltered, pointing towards Hermoine. Blaise shook his head, grabbing hold of her arm.

"You're one of us, Maisy." He looked deeply, searchingly into her eyes. "We don't socialize with Gryffindor. We stick to our own kind."

But I want to sit with her. Adeline tried to move past him.

"No," he said, pulling her back until she was flush against him. Her face exploded into color. "You'll sit with Slytherins."

She turned her head, looking in all directions for someone to sit next to--

"Me. You're going to sit by me, Maisy. Merlin, I thought that much was perfectly clear." He steered her to the desk behind Hermoine. "We'll sit near Granger for this class if you like, but you'll be sitting with me in every class, alright?"

Adeline met his eyes and, aware that he was not going to back down, nodded meekly. As Professor Vector delved straight into the lesson and students filtered slowly into their seats, Adeline felt Blaise's knee touch her own under the desk gently. When she looked at him, he shifted his chair, moving as far from her as the short rectangular desk would allow, and she sighed. This was going to be a long day.

After Arithmancy was Ancient Runes, a class Adeline instantly took a liking to. The professor, whose name she didn't quite catch, wasted no time in handing out their first assignment. Adeline took care to write the runes exactly as they were, drawing them with concise, practiced precision, painstakingly translating each to perfection. At one point in the class, Blaise glanced at her paper. The simple runes seemed elegant and artistic, drastically different from the rushed way he had scrawled them on his own paper. Hermoine was in this class as well, but the brilliant Gryffindor didn't seem to notice Adeline's presence.

Charms and Transfiguration passed uneventfully, and Blaise even dozed off in Professor Binns' History of Magic class. He awoke with a start in the middle of one of Binns' famously boring goblin war lectures, only to look beside him and find that, fascinated, Adeline was diligently taking notes. And when the professor dismissed class, becoming the first teacher to give an overnight assignment to the dismay of the students, she was the only one truly prepared. He was, of course, too proud to ask to borrow her notes.

During Potions, their next class, Professor Slughorn asked them to create a Draught of Living Death.

_Quite a curious little mixture,_ thought Adeline, stirring hers.

The boy from the train whom she now knew to be Harry Potter, was doing quite well on his potion it seemed. She ceased stirring, tapping the spoon on the side of the cauldron as she read through her instructions one more time. _According to this, it ought to be clear. _She peered into the cauldron, its contents a cloudy light gray. _Almost. _Without thinking, she placed the spoon at the corner of her lips as she contemplated the instructions. Blaise looked up from his own concoction and saw this, saying sharply, "Adeline!"

Adeline jumped, dropping the spoon. It clattered loudly on the table. He raced around to her, peering closely at her mouth.

"If any of that," said Blaise in a low tone, "had gotten past your lips, it would have been disastrous. Were you even thinking at all?" His thumb ghosted over her lips, wiping a small bead of liquid left by the spoon. "There."

He stepped away, and behind her Adeline heard Professor Slughorn praising Harry's potion. He glanced over her shoulder, patted her arm and said, "Very good, Miss Maisy, yours was a close second. You really must join me and some of your fellow select students for dinner some time."

None of this really registered, however. The thought front and foremost in her mind was, whether it was due to her family connections or not, Blaise Zabini cared.

* * *

Defense Against the Dark Arts was the last class of Adeline's day, with the exception of her extra lessons. From the moment she entered the classroom, Blaise saw immediately he was going to have to protect her from Snape's wrath. The Professor recognized the girl almost immediately and his scowl seemed to deepen.

"Let's start with some simple questions," he said in his slow, rich tone. "Who can tell me a defensive maneuver against the Cruciatus Curse?"

Hermoine's hand shot into the air, but Snape's eyes passed over her to land on Adeline.

"Miss Maisy, why don't you answer?"

For a moment, she simply blinked, caught off guard. He smirked triumphantly and added, "I'm sure you'll want to blame your lack of knowledge on your disability. You will get no special treatment here, Miss Maisy, and the simple fact is that you know absolutely nothing."

Blaise watched her bite her lip, lowering her eyes. Poor, fragile little Adeline seemed about to cry. Those words to anyone else would have elicited some dirty looks and perhaps a sheepish glance to the floor, but Adeline appeared to be content to take everything sincerely to heart. A strange urge came over him; he suddenly wanted nothing more than to rip Snape's smug, triumphant grin off his pinched face. He tried to shake it off, but the feeling wouldn't go away. It clung to every corner of his mind. When class ended, he sprung up, walking quickly out of the room, leaving a bewildered Adeline in his wake.

* * *

A/N: i got this one out pretty fast. please review? it's my inspiration.


	7. Possessive, Much?

A/N: i apologize if you think my character is a mary sue. i think she's actually quite well-rounded. and her name is Adeline. not Adelaide. just clarifying...haha.

and i edited this to make Adeline's speech more distinguishable from regular text. well, i tried, and then it went away cuz this website apparently hates me. sorry about that. so i tried again.

* * *

After classes were finished, the library was wonderfully, blissfully silent. Until, of course...

"You just _left _her?!" yelled Daphne.

Blaise sighed. "She's capable," he grumbled, trying in vain to work on his History of Magic essay. "Besides, it was the last class she had, I would have had to leave anyway because of those extra lessons."

"That's not the point, Zabini." Daphne slammed her hands on the table, leaning over him. "What if someone took advantage of her being mute? She can't call for help! She can't even scream--"

"That definitely sounds like a disadvantage to me," said Draco, smirking. "Hearing the girl scream your name is half the fun."

Daphne threw a book at him, which he ducked away from with a laugh. "You're disgusting!"

"Oh, stop pretending like you actually care for the creature," Pansy sneered with a flick of her wrist. "She's not even here, you don't have to suck up."

"_You _ought to be the one sucking up, Pansy." Daphne looked smug. "Even with her parents gone, Addy has more Ministry connections than your entire family, especially with that newest scandal with your father and that Muggle--"

Red splotches exploded on Pansy's face as she stood up furiously. "You lay off my family! I will _never_ suck up to that weak little--"

"Ministry connections won't be of any use soon," Draco interrupted. He sniggered.

"Yes, I'd forgotten," snapped Daphne. "Your father and his grand Dark Lord--"

"What about _your_ family?" Pansy countered. "Desperate for money, much?"

As the shouting grew louder, Blaise reread the only two sentences on his parchment and rubbed his temples. "Ah, the camaraderie of Slytherins. At each other's throats within seconds." _I am getting nothing accomplished this way. _"Daphne."

The girl looked up, sweeping her hair to the side. Abruptly, the arguing ceased.

"It's nearly nine, three hours is enough time for three classes, isn't it?" He didn't wait for her to respond. "Go check the common room. I have to finish my essay."

"She can't get into the common room, remember?" said Daphne exasperatedly.

"Then maybe she's waiting outside. Just go."

Scowling at him, Daphne exited the library. As soon as the girl had turned her back, Pansy lifted her middle finger, and for the third time, Blaise sighed.

* * *

Adeline watched, stunned, as Blaise left the classroom, practically running, not even waiting for her. She stood up and reached out after him, feeling strangely hurt as she watched him walk away from her. A hand descended upon her shoulder.

"Let him go," said Professor Snape gruffly. "Class is not yet dismissed for you."

Adeline looked up at her professor and then slowly sat back down.

"First, it will be quite annoying if you must write down every piece of information you want to relay." He swished his wand in the air once, and slanted black letters appeared that read, Try this. "Focus on the words in your mind. This is the most basic magic. Someone of your..." He looked her up and down with disdain. "...family history should get it in no time. We cannot possibly proceed until you have mastered this, albeit simple, task."

For a moment, Adeline merely stared.

"What are you waiting for?" He turned away from her.

Her first attempts resulted in absolutely nothing. After nearly twenty minutes, the best she was able to get were garbled interlocking letters. Another twenty minutes passed before even a full word was legible. Then the professor, without looking up from his desk, said, "If you don't hurry, you'll be late for your extra Charms. We will continue this tomorrow until you have perfected it."

Holding back tears of frustration, Adeline again stood and gathered her books.

"One more thing."

Adeline stopped, almost fearful to hear what he had to say.

"I want a two-thousand word essay on the Inferi. It's what we are currently covering in class and I would hate for you to fall behind."

_Is he serious?_

"Due tomorrow."

Without waiting for him to say anything else, Adeline bolted from the room.

Professor McGonagall was nice, but seemed distracted, all Flitwick could do was go on about Tiberius Maisy, and by the time Adeline had reached the dungeon, she was exhausted. She remembered last minute that she was unable to get into her common room. _I should probably find Daphne. _Her legs, however, seemed to have reached a limit, and she slid down the stone wall, cried for a few minutes, and promptly fell asleep.

* * *

"I'm so sorry!" Daphne gushed the next morning over breakfast. "I should have gone to look for you sooner."

Adeline shrugged, chewing her eggs as if to say, No big.

"Then again, it's Zabini's fault for abandoning you." Daphne shot him a look over her goblet of pumpkin juice.

He grunted. "I'm not apologizing, if that's what you're after."

Sighing, she murmured, "Of course not."

* * *

It was barely three days later until she mastered Snape's little wordless charm, and though she got the inexplicable feeling that he didn't really like her, the time passed rather quickly from then on. She'd fallen so comfortably into a routine that, had Blaise not mentioned it, she would have completely forgotten.

"So," he said one day, sitting near the fireplace. "Have you decided who you're inviting to Slughorn's Christmas party?"

A smile tugged at Adeline's lips as she used her wand to strengthen the fire. The December chill had taken an almost permanent place in her bones. Iridescent cursive letters appeared above her head, shimmering. /No, I haven't.\

To Adeline's extreme delight, she and Hermoine had actually become quite close friends through the help of Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Professor Slughorn's selective student dinner club--much to Blaise's obvious dismay. He had not complained, however, provided that she continued to seat herself next to him and him alone.

"He's being really very possessive about it," Daphne whispered at one point. Adeline merely turned red, laughed, and brushed it off.

Now, Blaise grunted, leaning back in the armchair. "Why don't you take a Gryffindor? You seem to be awfully fond of them lately."

"Stop sounding so jealous, Zabini," said Daphne behind Adeline. She sat in the other chair while the redhead sat on the floor with her back against it. "She's only friends with Granger. I know you hate having her attention diverted from you for even a moment."

/What about you?\ Adeline asked, cocking her head to the side. /Who are you going to ask?\

Blaise's eyes lingered on her for a moment before he answered. It seemed Daphne had again gotten her way, as the silent girl now wore the eyeliner and mascara Greengrass had tried to force on her a week before. Her red hair had darkened to a deep scarlet hue with the coming of winter, and it was now pulled back from her face with an elastic, bangs held securely in place by the turquiose bow-shaped clip Daphne had bought her as an early Christmas present. Now that her face was completely visible, it was impossible to not notice her ocean-colored eyes or pefect pale complexion, the faintest tinge of pink left on her cheeks from her last blush. Only a fool would refuse to admit that she was attractive--especially with her thin stomach and long legs, accentuated by the fact that she seemed to be one of those girly types who enjoyed wearing skirts--and Blaise Zabini was no fool. Not that he would ever utter his personal thoughts aloud.

"I don't know yet," he said simply. "No one as of yet had piqued my interest."

/It's quite impossible to pique your interest, isn't it?\ If she hadn't been smiling before, Adeline most certainly was now.

He smirked in response. "Not for the right person."

Daphne sighed dramatically. "Just ask her to the damn party, Zabini. Everyone knows you want to."

Adeline turned three shades of red, and instead of answering, Blaise stood up and left.

Daphne winced and said, "I've gone and ruined a moment, haven't I?"

Adeline held her thumb and pointer finger an inch or so apart. /Just a little bit.\

"Sorry," the other girl murmured sheepishly. "But that party's in three days! If he's going to ask you, he needs to ask you! Otherwise we're finding you another date."

Adeline hesitated for a moment. /I don't think he's going to ask me.\

Again, Daphne sighed. _I know_. "Sit closer, Addy. I want to braid your hair."

* * *

Hermoine looked over her shoulder to smile at the Slytherin girl. "Relax, Adeline. I'm sure they'll love you."

/I've already met Ron,\ Adeline replied. /But if Harry Potter is famous, he's going to find me awfully plain.\

"You're not plain," said Hermoine, rolling her eyes and pulling gently at Adeline's hand. She was towing the other girl through the snow in Hogsmeade, leading her to the Three Broomsticks for a planned hangout with Hermoine's two Gryffindor friends. "Ah, here we are!"

They entered the small building, anxious to get away from the cold.

"Oi, Hermoine!" Ron and Harry sat at a table near the back, but Adeline shot her a panicked look.

"Relax," Hermoine whispered.

Despite Hermoine's comforting words and firm hand guiding her to the table, Adeline found it nearly impossible to relax.

"I remember you," said Ron. "Your name's...uh..."

"Adeline Maisy," finished Hermoine. She glared at Ron briefly and he flushed.

Harry looked between the three of them, confused. "How do you two know her?"

"Met first date of school in the carriage ride, right 'moine?" Ron glanced at her unsurely for confirmation.

Hermoine nodded. "She's quite nice, Harry. I have several classes with her--Ancient Runes and Arithmancy to begin with--and she's at Slughorn's dinners."

Harry looked embarrassed at not having noticed her sooner. After all, not many students actually attended the Slug Club dinners.

"And she can't talk." Hermoine shot Ron another look. "What?" he asked. "Someone had to say it--"

"If she's in Arithmancy and Ancient Runes with you, she must be a genius." Harry's nose wrinkled teasingly. "I don't think this group can handle another Hermoine."

While Hermoine looked offended, Adeline smiled slightly.

/I'm afraid I'm no good at Arithmancy,\ she admitted.

"Thank goodness, that means you're normal," Ron said.

"Ron--" Hermoine began.

"I haven't seen you around the common room," said Harry quickly, attempting to avoid a conflict between his two friends.

Adeline blushed lightly and replied, /I'm in Slytherin, actually.\

"Slytherin?!" cried Harry in disbelief. "But you're so..."

"Normal?" Hermoine smiled, taking Ron's adjective. "I don't understand it either. Sit down, Addy. I'll get you a butterbeer."

Hermoine left, Adeline fidgeting uncomfortably in her seat, and Ron--still embarrassed--looked at her.

"I see the snakes haven't eaten you yet," he said.

/It's complicated.\ She winced. _It really is, isn't it?_

"Still, it's not like them."

"You never know, Ron," said Harry, sipping his own drink. "It's possible that she's just special."

* * *

Blaise brushed snow from his hair, kicking it from his shoes. Madam Rosmerta glared at him briefly for tracking the white powder into her pub, but he ignored her. Removing his scarf, he was just about to head near the bar when he spotted a familiar shock of red hair.

"Maisy?" he called.

Adeline jumped and twisted in her chair, her expression changing from fear to guilt to a brief flash of defiance and right on back to guilt. The two boys across the table from her scowled, and the girl she was seated next to put an arm around her shoulders. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermoine Granger. The Golden Trio. Adeline was in the Three Broomsticks with the Golden bloody _Gryffindor_ Trio!

Someone close to a growl slipped past Blaise's lips. "What did I tell you," he said, approaching their table, "about Slytherins and Gryffindors?"

She looked at the others, then back at him. /They're my friends.\

"You're a Slytherin!" burst Blaise. "You can't be friends with Gryffindorks!"

/Don't call them that!\ Her brow wrinkled, as if she was almost not sure if it was an insult.

"I could call them something much worse, I assure you!"

"You're making a scene, Zabini," said Hermoine coldly.

"Stay out of this, Granger." For the sake of Adeline's delicate feelings, he prevented himself from saying 'Mudblood'. _That, and it sounds too much like how Draco would handle this situation. I am not Draco._

/You were fine with it when it was just Hermoine.\ The words about Adeline's head seemed to pulse with her confusion. /Do you hate Ron and Harry so much?\

_Any normal person would have been yelling and screaming at me by now. Why is it so impossible for her to be mad at me? She always looks at me with those stupid doe eyes--_

"I should have known you'd try to hang out with Harry bloody Potter. Well no more." He grabbed hold of her arm.

Harry and Ron immediately stood, their wands aimed at him. Bewildered, Adeline shook her head.

/It's fine. I'm sorry, guys.\ She glanced imploringly at Hermoine. /I'll see you at the party?\

Hermoine gave her a wan smile. "Of course, Addy."

"Don't call her that," snapped Blaise, and he kept a tight almost painful grip on her upper arm until they were outside.

/What if they try to talk to me?\ Adeline asked as snow fell gently around them.

"They won't," he said harshly. "You're forgettable."

Hurt flooded her eyes. He stopped walking, turning to face her. "You're not to talk to those two. Granger is fine because she's a girl and so I allowed it, but not Weasley and Potter. Do you understand?"

She kept her eyes down, her head lowered. No words appeared.

He shook her a little bit. "Do you understand?"

/You're hurting me.\

He stumbled back, releasing her as if he'd been burned. Sighing as she wrapped her arms around herself protectively and shivered, he realized he'd pulled her out of the pub without her coat. _Like hell I'm going back to get it._

"Here." He removed his coat grudgingly, tossing it at her.

She stared at it for a moment before shivering again and sluggishly putting it on.

Again, he sighed. _I won't apologize. I did nothing wrong. __I shouldn't even have to justify. She shouldn't have been with them, and that is that!_" I just don't like you with them."_ Or boys in general. _He frowned, banishing the last thought. _Odd._

He led her back to the common room, neither addressing the other. Once inside, Adeline threw the coat back at him, on the verge of tears.

_Merlin's pants... _"Maisy--" he began, reaching for her.

/DON'T TOUCH ME\ appeared in all capitals, hovering in the air long after she had fled to the girl's dorm. Dropping his hand, Blaise--for the third time--sighed.

* * *

A/N: more blaisexoc-ness.. next chapter gets freeeaaakkyyy! :D that's where some of the hufflepuff-connections come in. haha review please!


	8. Forgiven or Forgotten

A/N: alrighty, this took me a while. i had this written for a while but finally got around to typing it up. please don't forget to review.

* * *

"What did you do to her?" Daphne demanded the next day, her hands planted firmly on her hips.

"Her who?" asked Blaise, uninterested. He turned the page of the _Daily Prophet._

"You know exactly what 'her' I'm referring to! Adeline!"

Pansy groaned and covered both ears with pillows from the chair. "Shut _up_ about her already."

"She won't converse with anyone, hasn't eaten since yesterday's breakfast," continued, ignoring Pansy. "And she had a giant bruise on her upper left arm that I would swear is the same size as your hand. I'll ask again: What did you do to her?"

For a moment, Blaise's face showed open disbelief and shock as he looked at her over the paper. "She _bruised_? The girl's as delicate as a peach! Bloody hell..."

"Aha! I knew it!" Daphne said a triumph. "Go to the library right now and apologize."

Blaise lifted his chin. "Why should I?"

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that." The girl sighed. "Look, she's fragile and breakable, it's her one major flaw. Just go to the library, bring Spello-tape--metaphorically of course--and offer to help her with her Defense Against the Dark Arts essay. Snape's assigned her a new one with each class and she's falling behind."

"Perfect little Adeline's falling behind? Doubtful." Draco snorted.

With that, Blaise turned his attention back to the _Daily Prophet_.

* * *

Adeline pushed her hair away from her face agitatedly, eyes intently focused on the book open in front of her. Another quick glance to the right of the book showed her that she had a pathetic six sentences--roughly 300 words--down on a 3,000 word History of Magic essay. She hadn't even begun to start on her latest DADA essay, the fifteenth that Snape had assigned her just this month, and her Arithmancy homework, which she had been utterly unsuccessful at finding the right equation for, lay abandoned on the table. The thought of her considerable workload mixed with the dismal anticipation for the Slug Club Christmas party, depressed her. She set aside the History of Magic parchment, drawing the DADA one closer to her. Her next lesson with Snape wasn't until after some school dance Daphne had called the New Year's Ball, but rumor had it that he would be at Slughorn's party, and she wanted the newest essay done in case he had the gall to assign yet another one.

She had just cracked open a different book--this paper was on the three Unforgivable curses, and there were literally a dozen books on the subject to skin through--when she heard something that sounded like laughter. She froze, listening carefully. Nothing.

Wait. There it is again.

Adeline set down her quill, having been forced to abandon the use of pencils months ago, and waited for the faint sound to fade away. It didn't. It grew louder, stronger, until it could no longer be mistaken as anything else.

She turned her head in all directions, looking for the source of the laughter. She could find no one; the library was empty. But the laughter--a woman's laughter, familiar in Adeline's own ears--continued until it was abruptly cut off. Out of her control, Adeline's eyes fluttered closed. Immediately, a woman's face appeared behind her eyelids. She spoke one word and, with a feeling akin to jumping in ice water, Adeline's eyes flew open, goosebumps prickling her skin.

The word the woman had said was: Badger.

* * *

Daphne looked at their reflections in the mirror, her hands absently toying with Adeline's hair. "I think we'll save the updo for the New Year's Ball, Slughorn's party isn't nearly that formal."

Adeline nodded, having been so absorbed in her own thoughts that she completely missed what Daphne had said.

"Perhaps if we curl it?" the other Slytherin suggested. "It's naturally wavy, and you've got quite a lot of it..."

/Can we pick something quickly?\ asked Adeline. /Hermoine's going to help me with my dress. She said she can Transfigure it uniquely for me.\

Daphne pouted, but made no comment regarding the involvement of the Gryffindor. "I can't believe neither you nor Zabini are bringing dates. Simply unacceptable." She ran the brush through Adeline's hair a few times.

Adeline pressed her lips together tightly at the mention of Blaise's name. They hadn't spoken since the incident in Hogsmeade, which was an accomplishment considering their schedule and day arrangements, but her resolve was slipping. She hadn't mentioned that event, nor the event in the library to anyone, not even Daphne. The last thing she needed was for someone to think she was crazy.

* * *

"I can't figure out what color is right on you," Hermoine said exasperatedly. "Yellow isn't right for your complexion, red is too drastic with your hair, green makes you look like a godforsaken Christmas tree..."

/Perfect,\ Adeline responded, grinning.

Hermoine smiled thinly. "And, of course, we have to consider what you'd be wearing to the ball, wouldn't want you to be wearing the same thing--"

/White.\

Hermoine blinked at the word.

/White dress,\ Adeline clarified. /I'll wear blue to the ball.\

"Oh." She blinked again. "There's an idea. We'll make it a bit short, maybe with a gold sash around your waist...Who is your date for this evening?"

Adeline colored vibrantly. /No one.\

"No one? That's a shame. You really must find someone for the ball, Addy." Hermoine turned the other girl to the mirror to see her reflection. "This is going to be fun, don't you think?"

_Yes_, Adeline thought, Blaise surfacing to the front of her mind. She took a deep breath and banished him. _Fun._

_

* * *

_Hermoine was meeting her datebefore the party, and so Adeline was left to walk into the room alone.

"Miss Maisy!" Slughorn exclaimed exuberantly. "So glad you could come. Are you not accompanied?"

Adeline smiled and shook her head.

"Outrageous!" he cried. Blaise entered in behind them and Adeline immediately lowered her head. "Ah, Mr. Zabini! How are you this fine evening?"

"I'm quite well, Professor." Blaise purposely ignored the girl next to him. Her cheeks burned.

"This is convenient, wouldn't you say? Mr. Zabini, you really must dance with Miss Maisy. She looks stunning tonight, does she not?"

Blaise's eyes flickered to her momentarily.

"Of course she does!" Slughorn laughed. He had probably already had one too many glasses of firewhiskey. "Go on, you two, enjoy yourselves."

Without giving them much of a choice, he pushed them together and nudged them towards an open space between couples dancing, then turned away without another thought. Adeline made a move to walk away.

_Might as well make amends, _thought Blaise grudgingly, _or Daphne will have me castrated._

Suddenly, Adeline felt a hand lightly grasp her wrist, successfully halting her.

"Stay," Blaise muttered.

Her eyes snapped up to his in shock.

"It wasn't my intention to show my temper to you in Hogsmeade." He paused. "Shall we dance?"

* * *

Hermoine watched from across the room, floored. Adeline, looking as sweet and innocent as ever in the white babydol dress, was in the arms of none other than Blaise Zabini, who was a stark contrast with his ebony skin and dark demeanor. They were swaying to the music, really the only thing a pair _could_ do given the lack of a designated dance floor.

_How could she forgive him for Hogsmeade?_

Hermoine, incredulous, made her way over. Blaise noticed her right away, and his eyes narrowed. Almost instinctively, his grip on Adeline tightened fractionally.

"Adeline," said Hermoine forcefully.

The girl spun around, her curly hair bouncing, skirt of her dress twirling cutely around her. The dress was absolutely perfect, and though she didn't want to, Hermoine was aware of the way Blaise stared. _Adeline deserves better._

"Did he apologize to you?" Hermoine demanded.

Adeline looked surprise. /Apologize?\

"Leave, Granger." Blaise snuck his arm around Adeline's waist in an attempt to turn her away from the Gryffindor.

Hermoine ignored him. "Did he apologize before you let him dance with you? That's the same as forgiving him, Addy."

Adeline shook her head, embarrassed, and replied, /He doesn't have to apologize.\

"Yes, he does! You can't let people walk all over you, Addy--"

/He's not walking over me, I know he's sorry.\

"You're so _stupid_, Adeline!"

Adeline froze, and immediately Hermoine recognized her mistake. She reached out to the other girl.

"Oh, no, Addy. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it--"

Hurt on her face, Adeline pushed past her and fled from the party. Hermoine sighed, dropping her hand.

"I've stepped in it now, haven't I?" she murmured to herself.

Blaise was still watching the doorway Adeline had fled through. _Should I go after her? _No, it's best to let her cry this out. He wasn't very good with handling emotional people--partially why he enjoyed Draco's cold demeanor--and he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't snap at her and make things worse. _Daphne was right; she's overly fragile._

He turned away from the door. _Ah, well. Nothing to do about it._

There was nagging feeling in the back of his mind, however, similar to the feeling he had when Snape lashed out at her. It could almost be described as...protective. He shrugged it off. Technically speaking, the girl was not his problem.

* * *

A/N: review:) next chapter is something that should shock you.


	9. Say It Out Loud

A/N: ouch...no reviews at all...that really cuts.

* * *

The party over, people exiting all around him, Blaise was making his way back to the common room. He'd barely started down the hallway when he heard footsteps echoing loudly towards him.

"Blaise!" yelled Daphne, thundering towards him. "Thank Merlin, Blaise!"

"Greengrass, what the hell?" Blaise looked over his shoulder to make sure Filch was nowhere around. "Lower the volume, you aren't supposed to be out. What's the matter?"

"It's Adeline!" she burst out. "I can't find her!"

"What do you mean you can'--"

"_I can't find her_!" Some of the people just leaving the part turned to stare. "Draco and Pansy refuse to help, no one's seen her in hours, that Granger girl told me she ran out of the party--"

"Daphne, calm down. Are you sure she's not just waiting outside the common room again?"

"Of course I'm sure! She's not _anywhere_!" Daphne made a sound like she was choking. "I don't think you get it, Zabini. _Addy is missing_!"

* * *

Adeline rested her head against the edge of the large circular bathtub, her arms floating gently in the sudsy water. Her tense muscles slowly relaxed the longer she soaked. She'd wandered the halls aimlessly for a bit after leaving the party, ducking into the first room she saw when Filch threatened to turn the corner. Once the room had revealed itself to be a private bath--ironically she had just been wishing for a warm bath--she stripped herself of the dress and settled into the bubbles.

* * *

"I've searched every room and every floor," Daphne rushed, struggling to keep pace with Blaise's long strides.

"You checked _all _of the rooms?" Blaise asked gruffly.

"_Yes_!"

Blaise sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly and stopping altogether. "Filch has been patrolling this entire floor, it's a miracle we haven't gotten caught."

"Oh, _Merlin_," groaned Daphne. "What if Filch got her?"

"Relax, Greengrass, she's smarter than that. What about the Room of Requirement? That's on this floor, isn't it?"

"She doesn't know about the Room--"

"Hardly anyone does," he countered. "What if she stumbled on it by accident?"

"Maybe." Daphne's eyes suddenly lit up. "Bubble baths. Adeline loves to take them when she's upset."

Without another word, the two took off running.

* * *

Adeline sank lower into the water, her eyes closed, and the bubbles touching her nose. The water was everywhere, all around... _I can't breathe_. It pushed on her chest, aching. Her lungs burned from lack of oxygen, and she tried to thrash, get to the surface, but her limbs felt tied down. The water was dark; she couldn't see. But she could feel--creatures, surrounding her. One of them wrapped its cold, scaly hands around her waist and pulled her down further. Someone cried her name.

_Mom? Dad?_

She could feel her parents near her, could feel their fear as they too began to drown.

_No!_

"Adeline, help..."

_Don't hurt them! Don't let them die! Don't die!_

_

* * *

_Blaise power-walked past where the door should be three times. Nothing. He tried again, thinking, _Private bath_. Again, nothing.

"Here, let me try." Daphne stopped him. "It probably has a perv-blocker."

Sure enough, a door shimmered into view after her attempt. Blaise could hear water running, but the door was locked.

_Easily solved. _"_Alohomora_."

He burst through the now-unlocked door, Daphne right behind him.

"Addy? Adeline?" Daphne cried.

Blaise rushed forward to the bath, where water was beginning to overflow. Adeline's head was submerged.

"Merlin!" He reached into the soapy water, grabbing her of her arm and lifting her up until he could grasp onto her waist. Pulling her out of the water, she laid her limp body gently on the cold tile floor.

"Adeline! Oh, Merlin, she's not breathing!" Daphne knelt by her, looking at Blaise desperately. "Do something!"

* * *

_I'm going to die. I'm dying._

A shining woman appeared before her, smiling, with a badger curled up on her shoulders. "Breathe, Adeline."

* * *

Adeline's eyes flew open and she exploding into violent coughs before taking a deep, gasping breath. Her chest moved deeply up and down, an intense fear showcased on her face.

She parted her lips. "No. No!"

Strong arms held her close, warming her as she screamed, wordlessly at first and then gradually into recognizable syllables. Tears streamed freely down her cheeks, mixing with the droplets of bath water as she sobbed, "No, no, no, no..."

"Shh," said Blaise, cradling her head. "It's alright."

"No, no, no. Don't let them die, you can't, you can't save me and let them die!" She clutched at him, buried her face into his chest. "Don't die..."

Her voice trailed off, her sobs quieted. Again, she went limp. She had fallen asleep.

Daphne looked at Blaise in open-mouthed shock as he continued to hold the resting girl. "She...She spoke. Adeline spoke."

* * *

Blaise rested his head in his hand, sitting in an armchair while Daphne raced the length of the common room. Adeline was comfortably in her bed and, though it was around two in the morning and Blaise was exhausted, Daphne seemed too keyed up to let him or herself sleep.

"What do you mean we can't ask her about what happened?" Daphne was demanding. "She was _talking_, for Merlin's sake--"

"And did you hear what she was saying?" snapped Blaise agitatedly. " 'No, don't let them die'. Obviously whatever happened was scarring, the very reason she is mute! You don't just bring that up in casual conversation, Greengrass. It will hurt her."

Daphne pressed her lips in a thin line.

He continued, "I know how much you adore acting and putting on your little show for Draco and Parkinson, but you actually care for Maisy and I can see that. However skeptical I am of your intentions and however shady your original reasons for befriending her, you have genuine affection for the girl and I know you'd hate to hurt her. So leave the subject matter be."

For a moment, Daphne didn't respond. Then she said, "You care for her too, I've noticed."

"I only don't want another episode like tonight."

"Speaking of acts, Zabini, it's time to end yours now as well." Daphne tried to meet the boy's eye. "You look at her all the time, she's the exception to all your rules, you offer to help her, you hold her while she screams and cries. Don't pretend you don't know what that means."

Blaise frowned, his temper finally making an appearance. "Of course I know what that means! I'm talking Draco through the exact same thing!"

"Then say it. Out loud."

Something close to uncertainty flashed in Blaise's eyes. It looked out of place. "I--"

"Say it, Blaise!"

The uncertainty was replaced with anger as he shouted, "I'm falling in love with her!"

* * *

A/N: please review? or i'll cry :(


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